I recently completed a beautiful solid mahogany coffee table that has quite a bit of detail(this relates to having to possibly sand it). My wife and I thought that semi-gloss poly would be the look that we wanted and although it’s pretty, now that we’ve got it inside, we would like to change it to satin. I’ve got Jeff Jewitt’s book on finishes, but wanted to know if anyone has any experience with this. Jewitt, basically, suggests a sanding technique (up to 1200 grit wet/dry followed by steel wool) and although this may work, how does it compare to an actual satin poly application? Should I, or can I, just put a couple of new coats of satin over the existing coats of semi (thus avoiding the sanding)??? I’m concerned about trying a sanding technique and not being able to get all the detail in the table a uniform sheen. (I’ve already got 4 wiped on coats that were followed by 2 sprayed on coats)
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Replies
KM, It's the final coat of polish that determines the sheen if you want to avoid rubbing out. You can spray gloss pre-catalysed lacquer for one or two coats, and spray matte as the last coat, and the end result will be matte. With varnish, a similar story, and I usually apply gloss all through if I'm brushing or spraying, and again apply the desired sheen as the last coat. I'll even mix about 10-- 15% of satin into a gloss varnish to knock off that high shine.
One danger with varnish is its tendency to attract dust and other blemishes as it's very slow drying. One trick that might help if you're brushing and your intended last coat has picked up some dust, etc., is to lightly sand it down with something like 320 grit, and wipe on a coat thinned out with white [mineral] spirits (or naphtha, which evaporates even faster.) There's more, but that will do for now. Slainte.
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The poster formerly known as Sgian Dubh
Just wipe on a coat of satin.
I'm not very experienced working with poly, but one of the concerns I'd have in applying satin over your semi-gloss is adherence. Assuming the semi-gloss has cured, I'm not sure the satin would really adhere well, since the cured (dried) finish isn't dissolved by the subsequent, new, coat.
I'd be more tempted to use a rubbing-out procedure, which is planned tomorrow as it turns out, for a semi-gloss finish that I want to subdue just a bit. Which book of his do you have? In "Great Finishes", starting on page 16, there's a section on rubbing out thin finishes. He takes the finish down to dull, and then up to satin.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
It'll usually adhere if the previous coat isn't fully cured but after it is there needs to be a mechanical key in the form of fine scratches.Post checked for spelling and grammarIanDG
I've rubbed down a few guitars with pumice stone (powder) mixed with water and a felt cloth. Rinse it off now and then and see the spots that need more work. The felt leaves the sharp edges if you're careful.
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